Super Bowl of Street-legal Drag Racing Features Red-hot Competition

The 13th annual NMRA/NMCA event offered up plenty of exciting racing action, no matter what your class preference might be.

Street racing continues to grow in popularity, despite its obvious dangers and illegality. Thus, event promoters seek to bring those folks to the track and offer them similar conditions. Not to mention the benefit of going at it in front of a large audience. It’s a win-win for everyone involved, and the action is just as exciting. That much was clearly evident at the 13th Annual Nitto NMRA/NMCA Super Bowl of Street Legal Drag Racing, which took place from July 27-29 at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Illinois.

The weekend of wild racing was as exciting as expected, and everything escalated when winners in each series ran off at the end of the event as Team NMCA and Team NMRA to determine which drivers would wind up with specially-designed Nitto Tire Diamond Tree Rings.

A whopping 600 racers and 250 show cars rolled in for the highly competitive event, yet only a small handful could claim victory. This included a field of 29 Pro Mods, from which Jason Hamstra emerged victorious with a blazing 3.69-second pass in his first-gen Camaro. James Lawrence and his Dragzine Corvette weren’t far off that pace in the Radial Wars class, ripping off a winning 3.89-second pass.

Joel Greathouse took home the win in Edelbrock Xtreme Street with a 4.70 pass, his first victory in three years. Trica Musi claimed victory in ARP Nitrous Pro Street with a 4.51 pass in her famous Popeye II. Jesse Wilson continued his dominance of Scoggins-Dickey Parts Center Chevrolet Performance Stock by leading all qualifiers with a 10.11 pass. He then worked his way to victory lane with a slower but race-winning 10.21.

Susan Roush McClenaghan took home the gold in Magnafuel Open Comp, edging out a red-lighting Mike Lawson. And Chuck Watson capped things off by claiming victory in Holley EFI Factory Super Cars. The veteran racer beat out fellow Mustang Cobra Jet driver Kevin Skimmer with a blazing 8.06-second pass.

All-in-all, it was truly a night to remember for fans of the sport. But even if you missed it, you’ve still got two more chances to catch NMCA action this year. The 17th Annual Honeywell Garrett NMCA All-American Nationals takes place Aug. 23-26 at Summit Motorsports Park in Ohio. And the 2018 season wraps up with the NMCA World Street Finals, Sept. 20-23 at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indiana.

Photos: Edelbrock

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Brett Foote

Brett Foote has been covering the automotive industry for over five years and is a longtime contributor to Internet Brands’ Auto Group sites, including Chevrolet Forum, Rennlist, and Ford Truck Enthusiasts, among other popular sites.

He has been an automotive enthusiast since the day he came into this world and rode home from the hospital in a first-gen Mustang, and he's been wrenching on them nearly as long.

In addition to his expertise writing about cars, trucks, motorcycles, and every other type of automobile, Brett had spent several years running parts for local auto dealerships.

You can follow along with his builds and various automotive shenanigans on Instagram: @bfoote.